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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Good, the Bad, the March

March – when spring announces itself and playoff contenders emerge from a long winter’s hibernation --- has come and gone. The Caps had a fair month, all in all, with a 6-5-2 record. But within, there was the good, the bad, and…well, the ugly.

The Record:

The Good…The Caps finished March on a 6-2-2 run to propel them to the second spot in the Eastern conference. It helped that New Jersey’s run led by Martin Brodeur’s return has run its course, the Devils finishing the month 0-4-1 to remain one point behind Washington.

The Bad…[caution…we used this same sentence to lead off last month’s GBU] The Caps again showed a tendency to play down to the level of their opponent when not playing a top-notch team. The Caps were 3-3-1 against teams that today are not in the top eight of their respective conferences. Thank heavens for Tampa Bay, which the Caps defeated twice in the month, scoring ten goals in the process.

The Ugly…Four losses by at least three goals, two of them to potential playoff opponent Carolina and the other two to Southeast Division also rans Florida and Atlanta. All of a sudden, the Caps can’t compete in their own division (4-4-0 for the month, not what you’d expect of the runaway division leader).

Special Teams:

The Good…The power play was 26.1 percent for the month (12 for 46). The Caps had at least one power play goal in eight of 12 games. On the other side, the penalty killers faced fewer shorthanded situations per game (4.3) than was the case in February (5.4).

The Bad…While the power play was efficient, it might not have been “effective.” Why? Because the Caps enjoyed fewer power play opportunities per game (3.8) in March than they did in February (4.1). Perhaps this is a case of referees getting into the spring thing of putting their whistles in their pockets. We’ll see.

The Ugly…In that same vein, the Caps had only one game in March where they had more than four power play opportunities in a game, that being the last game of the month in which they had nine such opportunities. Again, thank heavens for Tampa Bay.

The Record II:

The Good…Once again, the Caps were road warriors of sorts. They were 4-2-1 on the road in March, including a shutout win in Florida.

The Bad…They lost their last two road games for the month (one of which was a Gimmick).

The ugly…0-3-1 at home to start the month in which they were outscored 16-8.

The Players – Goaltender Edition:

The Good…Jose Theodore ended the month 5-2-1, 2.33, .910, with one shutout.

The Bad…Theodore started the month 0-2-1, 3.79, .845

The Ugly…Theodore getting pulled twice, both times against Southeast Division opponents (March 1st against Florida and March 16th against Atlanta).

The Players – Skaters Edition:

The Good…The “Young Guns” – Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green – combined for 22 goals, 38 assists, ten power play goals, and three of the five game-winners for the month (the other win was in a Gimmick).

The Bad…The rest of the team had 11 goals among 23 skaters who dressed, and Brooks Laich had four of those.

The ugly…Only four players for the month were on the “plus” side of the ledger: Brooks Laich, Keith Aucoin, Shaone Morrisonn, and Quintin Laing. You’ll note that only two of those players played more than three games in March.

Hershey Call Up Edition…

The Good…Six skaters: Aucoin, Laing, Chris Bourque, Staffan Kronwall, Oskar Osala, and Jay Beagle were called up in March and dressed for games.

The Bad…They had a combined two points, both from Aucoin (assists).

The Ugly…Quintin Laing going down to a torn spleen, which ends his season.

Some other good, bads, and uglies…

The Good…Semyon Varlamov was 1-0-0, 2.07, .912 in two appearances.

The Bad… The play of the skaters in front of the goaltenders in too many games.

The Ugly…Michal Neuvirth allowed a penalty shot goal, two short-handed goals, a power play goal, and an even strength goal in a 5-2 loss to Carolina (the club played a gruesome game in front of him). Welcome to the NHL, kid.

The Good…Brooks Laich had a solid month – 4-6-10, +3, with a power play, shorthanded, and game winning goal on his record. He had only two “minus” games for the month.

The Bad…Eric Fehr was 7-4-11, +6, with a game winning goal in 13 games in February. March? That’s another story: 1-0-1, even in 13 games.

The Ugly…Tomas Fleischmann – 0-0-0, -4, in 13 games. And on top of it there is the bad luck, having a couple of goals disallowed and another changed from his record to that of Nicklas Backstrom. April can’t get here fast enough for young Mr. Fleischmann.

The Good…Shaone Morrisonn built on a pretty solid month of February by having another in March – just in time after struggling much of the year. In the last two months he is 2-6-8, +4.

The Bad…Tom Poti failed to register a single point in the month. In fact, he is 0-3-3 in 26 games in the 2009 portion of the year. While it’s true that the “offensive defenseman” and “power play” quarterback duties have fallen to Mike Green, the absence of any offense from the blue line is troubling.

The Ugly…Jeff Schultz seems to be hearing the boos. He was 0-0-0, -4 in 12 games for the month and was a healthy scratch in the last game of March.

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The Washington Capitals enter the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).

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